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One in six

One in Six

What’s one in six mean?

One in six Australian men will be affected by prostate cancer.

It is a life-changing event and it certainly was for me.

At the end of 2013, I discovered by chance that I had an unusually hard prostate, discovered by my then alert doctor in an annual rectal examination. I had these once a year as part of an annual health check. What followed was a visit to a urologist, a biopsy and the news yes, I had cancer and further tests were needed to ascertain status and choice of action to best manage it.

Now telling someone they have cancer is enough to put anybody in a spin. Prompt surgery was recommended and done followed by a waiting period and then subsequent focused radiation to my pelvic area to mop up some errant cells that had “escaped” surgery. This approach was to eliminate them before they could move or attach elsewhere in my body. Results post-radiation were good, however my PSA readings began to climb again which was not (according to my urologist) supposed to happen. To keep this in context my PSA reading were 0.21 or less for nearly four years for which I am grateful.

My urologist assured me that a waiting period was necessary now for PSA to reach >0.5 before a scan could identify where these cells were in my body so they could be “treated ‘ in some way. Over the next three years, a steady rise to 0.53 PSA meant a full body scan could be done now to find those little buggers.

I welcomed these events as progress as it meant some action could follow to tidy up those errant prostate cells.  Well, the scan was done and no detectable cells were found meaning they were not the detectable kind, very rare, however that’s life. So now what?

Research tells me that many men live with prostate cancer and rarely die of it specifically.

I am comforted by Brian Johnson’s articles about Managing Cancer and the challenges he’s having helping his brother manage his cancer. My strategy now is to live as healthy as possible, creating an ideal environment and mindset with appropriate nutrition and lifestyle (read habits) to remove the remaining errant prostate cells before they “settle” elsewhere in my body.

To shorten up this story and get to the point “Cancer is a metabolic, environmental and emotional dis-ease” according to Dr Natasha Winter an Integrative Medicine doctor.

My message to you all through this story is to get good reliable medical information so you can make an informed decision about your health and wellbeing.

Where to from here?

In short,I endeavour to live and be healthy, eat. sleep and move to keep healthy and look after myself and my family in these challenging times.

If you need help managing life’s challenges call me 0419568043 or drop an email to  slater@internode.on.net Zoom meeting can be arranged too.